The Old Days
by AryaTyrell
Summary: Stories from when BTR was only a group of 4 kids growing up in Minnesota. OC- Tess, of course.


When Kendall pushed open the doors of Breccia Middle School, they were greeted with the usual indistinct chatter in the foyer. Green and black, the school's colors, ran in stripes along the wall, parallel to the green lockers underneath them.

It was too green- an alien planet.

First period was science, and luckily all four boys had the class together. If they didn't, well, they would have died from hearing Mr. Knurr, the teacher, drone on and on all morning. It was enough to make anyone fall asleep within the first five minutes.

Like today. Mr. Knurr talked in monotone about metamorphic rocks and how they formed, yadda yadda yadda. Kendall was busy making random faces at Mr. Knurr whenever he turned his back, and Carlos was anxiously waving his hand around in the air, dying to ask a question. James entertained himself by doodling in the margins of his paper, still blank in comparison to Logan's- the page was almost halfway full with Logan's neat writing.

James did some writing himself, but it wasn't on the science terms Mr. Knurr kept rambling about. Instead, he wrote, "Hey, whats up? This class lasts forever," in his untidy scrawl, folded it up, and passed it to the girl sitting behind him.

James counted to 16 before the paper fluttered back to him. "I know right? And I swear Mr. Knurr has a third nipple," read the response in curly, bubbly writing.

James grinned. Only Tess would notice something like that. Tess was part of the boy's hockey team, and the only girl on the team at that. Tess was like he sister the four boys never had- she was tough, funny, and athletic, all while maintaining a sweet demeanor. Another cool thing about Tess was that she wasn't ugly, but not too pretty either. At least the guys knew she was in their league.

But there was one thing the guys nor Tess knew- and it was that James had a crush on her. Ever since he met her at hockey tryouts, James had felt, well, different around her. Simple as that.

"How do you know?" James scribbled eagerly, coming back to the present.

"There's a lump next to his belly button. You can see it when he wears tight shirts," Tess wrote back.

"Seriously?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"Yes."

"Just look already."

James complied, and nearly burst out laughing- Tess was right. The God-knows-how-old teacher did have a bump next to his belly button. James wrote back, "Lol you're right. But how do you know it's a nipple? It could be a wart or something."

The reply was merely "..."

Before James could answer the bell rang, and Mr. Knurrs assigned them a 'short essay' on the formation of metamorphic rocks. James quickly scribbled the homework on the back of his hand, and gratefully ran out of the room. Kendall, Carlos, and Logan caught up with him.

"Did you guys understand the lesson at all?" Carlos asked worriedly.

"Nope, but don't worry." said Kendall cheerfully. "That's what Google is for, darling Carlitos."

"Google's not always right," Logan reminded them.

"In my world it is," Kendall said smoothly.

"What is?" a girl's voice asked from behind them. Tess had caught up with them.

"Google."

Tess snorted. "Like Google has the answers to all of life's problems."

"Well, it does!"Kendall said. "One time I Googled how to get my parents to raise my allowance, and it worked like a charm."

Then Tess said to him in French: "Why don't you Google how to get a girlfriend?" James, who also took French, burst out laughing. Logan, on the other hand, merely rolled his eyes.

James shook his head at his two friends. They were always fighting over something stupid. "Wow. Hey, I gotta get to 2nd period or else Mrs. Devonage is gonna shoot me for being late again." The teacher not-so-secretly had a Nerf gun concealed under her desk. James smiled as he remembered the day Carlos came out of the room with a dart embedded in his face.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, almost in a dreamlike state for James. But the dream shattered like crystal before reality at lunch. When he sat at his friends' regular spot, he should have known he was in for a rough lunch period.

"Okay, James," Logan said, leaning over. "You know how your birthday is next Sunday?"

"Yeah... So?"

"And we do recall you saying you wanted something over the top," Kendall intruded. He looked at Carlos and Logan for backup, who nodded feverishly. James and Tess exchanged looks, not knowing what to expect. "So we got you a spot in a ..." Kendall paused for dramatic effect. "A KARAOKE CONTEST!" the other boys joined him on the last fee words.

James' eyes widened in shock. Just two years ago he had vowed to never, ever do karaoke again. For one, he sounded like shit, since he never had had any special training. Secondly, he had a moderate case of stage fright.

James said "No way, you guys. Remember the last time?" The last time he did karaoke he fell off the stage, giving him a bloody nose. Carlos and Kendall still laughed to tears about it, and they also had about a million pictures (In fact, one of them was framed on the Garcia fireplace). Only Tess had been the decent one that night, leading him off to the side and using about a whole pack of tissues to stop the flow. Logan helped a little too, but even he had to stop laughing and put on his I'm-the-smart-one-do-as-I-say face.

"Well, yes actually." Kendall admitted. "But just remember where the end of the stage is!" With that, he, Carlos, and Logan broke down in fits of laughter.

"Well I'll just call the people hosting it and drop out," James said shortly, irritated.

"You cant," Carlos choked through his laughter. "We entered your name months ago, way back in May."

"So?"

"So, they have a rule where you can't drop out after you're name's been entered for 3 months. It's September now, James."

"Then I just won't show up."

"Aww, but James!" the Latino whined, using his best puppy dog eyes.

James let out a puff of air. They had him good and cornered. "Wheres it at?" he asked finally.

"Club Hogan's" Logan answered immediately. It was like he wa programmed to answer every question he was asked.

"The one on Beach Boulevard?"

"Yup. It's at 8 pm, on Saturday."

"Oh, joy."

"That's the spirit!" Kendall punched him playfully on the arm.

"What song are you going to sing?" Tess asked, startling James. She had been so quiet during the entre conversation that he forgot her presence at the table.

"No idea."

"Hey, what about that song that got stuck in our heads last spring? Then at least you'll know the words," Carlos said excitedly.

"Ohh yeah," Logan said, recognition dawning on his face. "How did that go again? I also seem to recall you saying the singer of that song was a disgrace to Mexicans."

Carlos pretended to look shocked. "I said no such thing!",

Then Tess said, "Didnt it go like, 'Friday, Friday, gotta get down on friday'?"

Those first few lines jogged everyones memory. "Everyone sing along!" Kendall laughed. "'Everybodys looking forward to the weekend, weekend.'"

"Partying, partying, yeah! Partying, partying yeah!" Carlos joined, pumping his fist in the air on "yeah"

At this point, people at surrounding tables began to glare at them, so they stopped belting out the verses. "But you know what I mean," Carlos chuckled.

"Ehh. Maybe not. I don't sing like this," James said with a nasal voice. "and everyones going to hate me if I sing that horror that we call a song."

Carlos shrugged.

"Maybe you could do 'Im Yours' by Jason Mraz,", Tess suggested. "That works really well with your voice, James."

James was surprised. Tess had never heard him sing before, except at that stupid other karaoke place. "How do you know?" he asked her suspiciously. She merely shrugged.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. The group of five were then first to leave, much to the satisfaction of the surrounding tables. "They'll probably throw a party now, the bastards," James heard Tess mutter darkly. He snorted.

************

Saturday came all too quickly for James. A few hours before the dreaded event his eyes tracked the clock, willing time to go slower. At 5:30 he finally dragged himself from bed to his closet, and was faced with an important decision: What should he wear to the karaoke?

He opened up his closet and looked on the endless rows of colorful fabric, ranging from camoflauge to tie-dye to plain white. There was that new Abercrombie and Fitch that was a button-down and had a yellow, checkered pattern to it. He could leave it open and have an undershirt or something. No, that was too casual. The dark, navy blue tux he had worn to the 6th grade winter formal was becoming, but seemed a little dressy for karaoke. His favorite outfit, though, was a black shirt with the Aeropostale logo on it in white, with a pair of faded blue skinny jeans to go with it. But there was unmistakably a grease stain on the left leg of it. How about the Hollister shirt and combat boots? Nah, it made him seem schoolboyish and would fit perfectly with Logan's shy nature.

James walked in and out, selecting outfits and trying them on. He tried to imagine what the other people's reactions would be, especially Tess's. Rejected clothes were strewn messily around him on the floor, which would have given Logan an epiphany like the neat freak he was.

Finally, after much deliberation, he chose a white shirt with a black as part of the design with black, loose skinny jeans. Loose, as in, they were tight but not so tight they were choking his balls, which would have been... Uncomfortable, not to mention weird.

By the time he was finished with the clothes dilemma, it was 7:00 and his mom was already yelling at him to get his butt downstairs and into the car.

On the ride to the place, James thought with some amusement about what happened when the Garcia's got ready for special events like this. Carlos was the youngest of a family of 7, with 1 sister and three brothers.

So heres the pandemonium James imagined that was goig on at the Garcia household:

Mr. Garcia would be running around saying, "I can't find my lucky silk tie!"

Mrs. Garcia: "My hair looks like shit."

Jacob (the oldest): Actually, James couldn't think of anything for Jacob, he was so dull. He was somewhat like Logan, quiet and smart and thoughtful and all those things, except without the social skills. So James decided to skip him and come back to it later.

Conrad (the second oldest): "Oi! Ciara! Quit hogging the hair dryer!" (Conrad was jus as obsessed with his hair as James was with his own.)

Vince (the second youngest): "Where the hell are the spare batteries to my video camera?" (Vince was doing a film course for high school and constantly had a video camera in hand for his projects).

Carlos: "Has anyone seen my helmet?"

Ciara (the only girl): "Conrad, give me the feckin' hair dryer, Im not finished with it yet! And there is no way I am going to this retarded karaoke thing! I look like a bloody whale right now and I have nothing to wear and-" (Ciara was the most dramatic of the Garcia's and was, if possible, even louder than Carlos. She often complained that she had nothing to wear, despite her bursting wardrobe).

James was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice when his moms Prius pulled up in the parking lot of Hogan's. James gulped, a sense of fear settling in the pit of his stomach.

"Hey!" Kendall said once he walked in. James's mom excused herself to chat with the other moms. "I see you're still on for the competition."

"Only cause Carlos did his stupid puppy dog face." James said. Kendall smirked.

"Well youre supposed to sign in over there," Kendall said, pointing at a table manned by a rather beefy looking guy- probably a security guard.

"Where are the others?" James asked, looking around.

"Oh, over there," Kendall reassured him, nodding at a table in the corner.

So James wandered over to the table and scribbled his name on he roster. The fat guy said to him, "You in the karaoke competition?"

"Um. YeAh."

"And what's your name again?"

"James Diamond."

"Hold on a sec." Fat Guy then proceeded to take out a huge manila folder and leafed through it. After what seemed like an eternity he finally said to James: "Okay, so you're third, right in between Keith Richardson and Tess Sapphire."

James was about to leave, but then he doubled back. "Did you say Tess Sapphire?" he questioned. Sapphire was Tess's last name.

Fat Guy looked at the paper again. "Yup. Tess Sapphire."

James looked at the roster again. Right there, at the top, was 'Tess Sapphire' in curly, bubbly writing. James widened his eyes.

"'Scuse me," he said, and practically ran over to their table. Tess? In a karaoke competition? James had never, not in the 7 years he'd known her, heard her sing. And why had she signed up without telling anyone?

"Hi, James!" Carlos beamed at him, breaking him out of his thoughts. He was suddenly at their table.

He slowly took a seat in between Tess and Logan, with Kendall and Carlos opposite them. He was starting to feel very nervous now- and the fact that Tess was keeping secrets from him wasn't helping.

"Who's ready for some ka-ra-o-kayyy?" called a DJ from the stage. Everyone whistled, clapped, stomped their feet. The DJ chuckled. "Well, I'm Tom and I'll be your host for tonight. Now, first up for our contest is Margaret Emeralds, and she's gonna be singing "My Heart Will Go On," from 'Titanic'. Let's give it up for Margaret!"

More applause.

When Margaret's song started, the usually noisy room was now so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. James' insides squirmed. He wasn't nearly as good as this Margaret, and his song wasn't nearly as emotional. When the second singer was announced, James ran and hid in the boy's room.

His brain started going into overdrive when he locked himself in a stall. What if Im not good? What if they boo me? And what if- he took a gulp- I fall off the stage again?

Thunderous applause from outside snapped him back to reality. His stomach churned and his forehead broke out in sweat as Tom the DJ announced: "OK, next up is James Diamond, performing Jason Mraz's 'I'm Yours'."

Polite applause for a few seconds. Then murmurs of confusion in the audience when they realized that no one was stepping up on the stage.

A new idea slithered into his brain. Maybe if he just stayed in here, and let the Tom move on to the next singer... Yes, that would prevent him from total humiliation.

"James?" Tess's voice echoed in the room. "I know you're in here."

James's heart pounded. Why was Tess in the boy's restroom, for Christ's sake? Was all he could think.

"James, you know my biggest fear is mice," Tess continued gently. "And of that room outside were full of mice, then I'd be in the same place as you." She paused. "Except maybe in the girl's room."

James grinned a little, but it slid off his face and crashed to the linoleum floor when he heard Tom's next remark from outside.

"What?" Tom said into his mic. "It seems that our third contestant is in the bathroom... with his girlfriend !" A series of hoots and squeals resulted from the audience. "Let's let James know it's his turn, now!" with that, the audience started to chant, "James! James! James!"

"Tess!" James said, panicking. "To the point, please!"

"All I'm saying is, no ones forcing you to do this..." she coaxed. "Not me, or Logan, or even Kendall. Not even those bastards outside."

"James! James! James!"

James felt the walls of the cubicle closing in on him- he had to get out. He burst through the steel door.

"Tess, I can't do it," he wailed. "I can't sing! I would sound like an idiot on stage!"

Tess's face became stern. "You can sing, James, and you WILL sing. Who cares if you sound like an idiot? I don't, do you?"

James pondered the answer to this. He had spent his whole life trying to please everyone- it had been drilled into his head since he was two. But Tess had a point.

"JAMES! JAMES! JAMES!"

"No," he replied softly.

"What?" Tess said, cupping her hand around her ear. "I didn't hear you. Do you care what they think?"

"No," he said again, a little stronger.

Tess shook him by the shoulders. "Louder!"

"No!"

"Louder!"

"NOOOOO! I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY THINK!" James screamed so loud that the chanting died a little outside. Tess looked a little shaken, and probably a little deaf, and just stood there for a while. Then the two of them laughed at their own stupidity.

After splashing his face with cold water and running the comb through his hair, James charged out of the bathroom like a man on a mission. He bowed to all his adoring fans, with Tess screaming beside him, "Screw them!"

******£££*********

"Tess, you are a miracle worker," Logan gushed to her when she reached their table.

"Yeah! You should become a psychologist or something!" Carlos suggested, bouncing a little in his seat.

"Why, because you need one?" Kendall snapped at him. Carlos sat there, stunned.

"Whoa. Chill, Kendall," Tess said, putting a hand on his shoulder, but he brushed it off. Tess looked helplessly at Logan beside her, who shrugged weakly.

The sound of a guitar playing returned their attention to the stage. It was to "I'm Yours", and when James sang the first few notes Tess was enraptured.

"Well, you done done me and you bet I felt it  
>I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted<br>I fell right through the cracks, but I'm trying to get back"

And all the while, Tess prayed that he wouldn't fall of the stage again.

************

James hopped off the stage (thankfully not recieving a bloody nose) and the first thing he did was hug Tess.

"You were amazing!" she squealed.

"Thanks to you."

They broke apart, and Carlos announced "GROUP HUG!"

The tables around them laughed as all five of them piled in a huge hug with James in the center.

Tom then announced, "okay, After the incredibly brave James Diamond, we have Tess Sapphire singing "Stay Beautiful" by Taylor Swift!"

Tess broke free of the guy's tough grasps and made her way to the stage, leaving all but one of the guys staring speechless after her.

"When did she..."

"I never knew she..."

"Did anyone know?..."

Their sentences blurred together, the same confusion and awe that Tess was in a karaoke contest written on their faces.

When they finally sank down into their chairs, James wondered yet again why she entered herself. But before he could reach an answer, that was when Tess started to sing.

Her voice was like liquid harmony, flowing perfectly with the music and washing away all of James's worries. He could feel all the stress and tension ooze out of his muscles and after a few seconds he felt free. He looked around to see if anyone else had been affected. Sure enough, Logan sat there with a faint smile playing on his lips, Kendall was looking a little drowsy, and Carlos had his mouth open in a perfect O in awe.


End file.
